What Does a Social Media Manager Do?

While the specific duties of a social media manager can vary somewhat among employers, in general he or she is responsible for overseeing and executing advertising and customer outreach for a company through social networking software and websites. This is a marketing position in which a person is tasked by his or her company to utilize social networking sites to generate sales and find new customers. Due to the relative newness of this position at many companies, the background of a social media manager may be in marketing and advertising, computer science, or other fields.

A social media manager is often a fairly high-level position at many companies, commonly answering to a president or vice president. The duties involved in this position can vary somewhat, depending on the needs of a company, though there are many aspects of social media management that can be common among businesses. In general, a social media manager is responsible for effectively creating a company’s presence on various social media websites. This can involve sites used to post updates about products and employees on a regular basis, as well as creating an account and page for a business or product on a social media website.

The responsibilities of a social media manager often begin with an overall plan for establishing the image of a company through social media. This can include anything from creating a viral advertising campaign using such media to simply creating a social page for a product to allow customers to voice their own support of that product. For small businesses, this can be used to spread word about a particular company in a way similar to traditional forms of advertising. Many small businesses have found themselves struggling to effectively utilize social media, and social media management can help such companies greatly increase their visibility to potential customers.

A social media manager may directly work with social media sites or may oversee a team of other employees who create websites and post text on social media websites. After the initial launch of a company or product page on a social media site, the social media manager typically tracks Internet traffic and interactions, such as “likes,” “favorites,” or “follows” on these sites to see how well a project is being received. The manager may then continue a social media program or make changes as necessary to ensure as beneficial a reception as possible from potential customers. Since this is often a new position at many companies, the background of a social media manager can be in anything from marketing to communications, and real world experience is often more important than a particular degree.